School's Id Policy Angers Parent

October 20, 2005|By STEVEN GOODE; Courant Staff Writer

WINDSOR — Since he took over as principal at Windsor High School in July, Joseph Arcarese has made many changes.

He has done away with homeroom to increase instructional time, moved vice principals into offices throughout the school to make them more visible, implemented hallway sweeps to cut down on tardiness, and strictly enforced the dress code outlined in the student handbook.

Arcarese's moves have been generally accepted, if not applauded, by parents, students and staff. But now some parents have raised questions about a new rule requiring visitors to the school to hand over a picture ID when they enter the building.

At least one parent is claiming that Arcarese has gone too far.

``It's like homeland security. All he's doing is making noise, but nothing is being done about education,'' Windsor resident Allan Rosen said Tuesday.

Rosen, who has two children in the high school, said he was surprised to learn on a recent visit that his driver's license would be held until he was ready to leave the building.

In the past, school officials said, visitors were required to sign in as they entered the building, and sign out as they left. But they found that some visitors were leaving the school through other exits, with many not bothering to sign out.

``They had no idea who was in the school,'' said Superintendent of Schools Elizabeth Feser. ``That's frustrating. We are responsible for the safety of the kids in the building.''

Feser said that several parents had sent her e-mails asking why the policy had been implemented, but that Rosen has been the only one to complain about it.

Jane Garibay, president of the Windsor Board of Education, said Tuesday that the new policy also protects visitors in the event of an incident that required evacuating the building.

``If something happens and we don't know who is in the building, how can we save them?'' Garibay said. ``We have to be realistic. This is the world we live in.''

Rosen said that on a subsequent visit to the school, he purposely claimed not to have a picture ID and was allowed to attend a meeting. There, Rosen said, he was pulled aside by Arcarese and told that he would not be allowed in the building in the future without leaving a picture ID at the front desk.

Arcarese said Tuesday that the school is within its rights. ``Anything we can do for the safety of the kids we're going to do,'' Arcarese said. ``What I didn't do was notify parents, and that's going to happen.''